OUGD601 | Sustainable Food Packaging Practical - Research

Research for Practical work

Book - 'SustainAble: A Handbook of Materials and Applications for Graphic Designers and Their Clients' by Aaris Sherin

By using a combination of the following theorist and authors and their views on sustainability and sustainable design constructs and forms my practice work. Using their philosophy based on design is important to my practical and how it will commence. As I previously stated by perusing William McDonaugh and Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle theory of 'nourishment' and 'Waste equals food' becomes a realism through my practical work. A sustainable packaging that can not waste food and does not waste unnecessary materials. The cycle will continue as the following: Thinking about the Death of the produce, when the sandwich is eaten and the packaging remains. Then the seeded packaging can be decompose and planted. Next is the birth of the product, over time the packaging has broken down and the seeds start to grow due to water. Finally life of the packaging can turn into a plant or more food. The cycle that can continue or a cycle that uses reverse engineering. 

Richard Buckminster Fuller

• Fuller's ideas about the integration of natural systems and human invention and his advocacy for environmental issues have been inspirational to many designers, environmentalists, and scholars who advocate the responsible use of the planet's remaining resources. 
• "Our planet Earth is home to all humans, but scientifically speaking it belongs only to the universe. It belongs equally to all humans. This is the natural, geometrical law. Any law of men which contradict nature are unenforceable and specious." - Buckminster Fuller. 

Victor Papanek

• Victor Papanek challenged designers of all kinds to take responsibility for the social and environmental ramifications of their work. 
• "In all pollution, designers are implicated at least partially." The definition of a designer put forth by Papanek is that of a fully thinking problem solver. 
• In his second book 'The Green Imperative' (Thames and Hudson, 1995), Papanek included "The wisdom to anticipate the environment, ecological, economic, and political consequences of design intervention" in his list of the skills and talents that a designer should possess. 

William McDonaugh and Michael Braungart -Cradle to Cradle - page.22

• Cradle to cradle, William McDonaugh and Michael Braungart proposed that proposed that products should be designed so that after their useful lives are over they can provide "nourishment" for something new. 
• They see flawed design models rather than consumption as the most pressing problem. 
• McDonaugh and Braungart argue that using the term "recycling" to describe a current system of recovery and reuse is somewhat disingenuous. They suggest that the contemporary industrial model is essentially a cradle to grave approach. 
• We "down cycle" rather that recycle.
• "Unless materials are specifically designed to ultimately become safe food for nature, composting can present problems as well. When so-called biodegradable municipal wastes, including packaging paper, are composted, the chemicals and toxins in the materials can be released into the environment,". 
• Instead of focusing on the difficult task of re-using (or recycling) materials not initially designed for a second and third life. 
• They suggest that we are in need of an industrial re-evolution in which we eliminate the concept of waste instead design products and systems that can provide nourishment for something new at the end of their useful lives. 
• Cradle to Cradle in Use: 
• Buildings that, similar to trees, produce more energy than they consume and purify their own waste water. 
• Products that, when their useful lives are over, do not become useless waste but can be tossed onto the ground to decompose and become food for plants and animals and nutrients for the soil or that can return to industrial cycles to supply high-quality raw materials for new products.